"Hello, we have your son's cell phone,'' a voice from his high school says. "We had to confiscate it because he was using it. You can pick it up between 4 and 4:30 pm today."

Routinely, the next call comes minutes later from my son, using a friend's cell phone. He'll be begging me to drop whatever it is I am doing, run to his school and get his phone because he simply cannot live without it.

For years, these annoying calls greeted me in meetings, on business trips and on deadline. Sometimes I reluctantly showed up to retrieve the phone, only to find the office storing dozens of confiscated devices each day shuttered, everyone gone.

What a colossal waste of time. It's a major reason the announcement from Mayor Bill de Blasio that cell phones can now come to school has been such a long time coming.

Of course, it's not good news for the bodegas, trucks and other small shops that routinely profited from storing student cell phones near schools with metal detectors, but it's a welcome relief for parents like me.

Not because I haven't been letting my kids pack their phones to school all these years anyway. From the moment they first started riding the subway alone back in middle school, they had their phones, as did their friends, defying Mayor Michael Bloomberg's stubborn ban.

I'm just tired of the consequences of getting caught.

De Blasio himself acknowledged that his son Dante brings a cell phone to Brooklyn Tech each day and texts his whereabouts. I can't imagine the mayor's ever been asked to come retrieve it. The hypocrisy is finally coming to an end; let the new era begin.

For years, the unspoken rule in many high schools without metal detectors has simply been that kids could have cell phones—they just couldn't take them out. Yet many managed to do so repeatedly; both of mine did.

The end of the ban means principals, parents and teachers will have to develop guidelines on where and how students can use their devices in schools—something that should have happened years ago.

In the meantime, the next challenge will be defining what kind of "educational use," Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina would like to see the cell phones get in a new digital era. She noted in the New York Daily News that she sees plenty of potential.

"What is so exciting about this change is that there are real educational benefits in incorporating phones and devices into our schools and classrooms," Farina said.

Farina is right; at The Hechinger Report, we've been writing for years about a digital revolution in classrooms and the way technology is changing teaching and learning. Such innovation is also a long time coming in many New York City schools.

For now, though, I'm content with not having to pick up my own ringing cell phone and being told to come and get the one that has been taken away.

It's the thick of college application season, and your child is diligently churning out common application essays while simultaneously studying for four or five advanced placement exams and researching scholarships, right?

Well, maybe not.

In households of high school seniors across New York City right now, (including my own) there's likely a good deal of procrastination—along with frustration and anxiety about the endless array of essays and electronic forms to fill out. Tasks include the dreaded and still over-complicated federal FAFSA, a federal form with 108 questions and 72 pages of instructions that determine financial aid—all guaranteed to take weeks off your life. (Here's a tip, though: For help, check out this how-to guide from the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School.)

Way too often, the city's public high schools don't have nearly enough guidance counselors to provide one-on-one advice and instruction. In fact, when asked about the ratio of students to counselors at a recent City Council hearing, the Department of Education said they didn't know.Nationally, the ratio of counselors to students at public high schools is just one to 285: with only one college counselor for every 338 students, a recent Hechinger Report story found.

That's why when I was asked to give a presentation about college admissions at my son's Manhattan high school last week, I came up with a handy list of do's and don'ts for parents—some based on many years of covering education, others based on trial and error in my household and the homes of my siblings, relatives and friends.

They might include the kinds of tips guidance counselors could provide, if only there were enough of them.

At the top of my list is a simple tool called Tuition Tracker, showing what students really pay for college—based on income—instead of what the so-called sticker price you can read on any website says. For example, the cost of attending Pennsylvania State University runs about $30,000 a year for in-state students. At Swarthmore College outside of Philadelphia, it's nearly twice that, yet Swarthmore ends up being less expensive for most students, according to one of our stories that used Tuition Tracker. How could that be? The answer is that Swarthmore is among the private liberal arts schools offering hefty discounts, bringing down the average cost to even less than taxpayer-subsidized Penn State's.

Many low-income families are so intimidated by prices and so unaware they may qualify for substantial aid they don't even bother to apply, a study by researchers at Stanford and Harvard found last year. Without guidance counselors and financial aid experts encouraging them to apply, they continue to be unaware.

I hate to think that our overly stressful and complex college admissions process drives away kids who truly deserve great opportunities.

It is simply unrealistic to think most busy high schoolers can navigate admissions and financial aid on their own. Parents have to strike a balance between being overinvolved and uninvolved—the stakes are too high.

Here are my top ten "don'ts" for parents, particularly of high school seniors. Parents, please add your own!

1. Do not begin every sentence with the phrase: ''Did you do...?''

2. Do not double-team your child, even if you are lucky enough to have two parents who are involved. Designate one parent to handle financial aid while the second helps keep track of applications.

3. Do not talk about your child's SAT or PSAT or ACT scores except in private! It's just not good form to talk about test scores in front of other kids and parents or compare scores with friends and siblings. Great scores don't necessarily guarantee top choice admissions, bad or mediocre ones don't necessarily doom them.

4. Do not constantly yell, nag, compare, beg, punish and put your child down when you get anxious about the ordeal. Instead, pick one admissions task at a time to tackle with them together.

5. Do not think of college admissions decisions as a reflection or referendum on your parenting skills or how you raised your child.

6. Do not pin all your hopes on one or two colleges that felt right to you. You aren't the one going.

7. Do not anticipate much personal attention, guidance and hand-holding from school counselors if you attend a large public high school. Their caseload is too big and they simply do not have the time.

8. Do not write any of your child's essays. It will be obvious the voice is yours.

9. Do not talk about nothing but college admission at home. If all goes well, it could be the last year your child will be living with you. Change the subject every now and then; watch a game or a funny movie.

10. Do not miss important deadlines. Figure out a way to stay on target—via an email relationship with your child, shared calendars, a chalkboard or whiteboard.

11. Do not forget to check in advance of applying to get a sense of how much aid you might reasonably expect.

Finally, if you have figured out what works well—pass it on!

]]>willen@tc.columbia.edu (Liz Willen)News and viewsTue, 07 Oct 2014 11:59:30 -0400High school hustle: No such thing as one stop shopping in NYC schoolshttp://insideschools.org/blog/item/1000875-high-school-hustle-no-such-thing-as-one-stop-shopping-in-nyc-schools
http://insideschools.org/blog/item/1000875-high-school-hustle-no-such-thing-as-one-stop-shopping-in-nyc-schools

After all the hype and hustle of searching for and getting into a New York City public high school, it can be disheartening to find out that for some kids and parents the search continues.

Not the search for another high school, although there are some who brave the arduous process again and transfer. I’m talking about the search to supplement what is often missing in even some of the most coveted high schools—from advanced math and science classes to art or a foreign language.

Savvy parents and kids will seek out everything from individual tutoring to after school art, music and dance programs to courses at CUNY colleges or elsewhere.

Wouldn’t it be nice if one public high school could have it all?

Many city schools have never really recovered from years of budget cuts that slashed programs and courses.

In others, the schools are already so specialized on topics like art, music and theater or science and engineering that they have no extra time, money or resources to put toward other areas. And not all high schools have sports teams or a musical.

Ask parents of graduates and older students, and you will get plenty of tips and hear stories about what they did to fill in gaps. You will learn what is free and what cost money, and what they fought for.

As the parent of a rising senior and a recent high school graduate, I’ve been down this road, as my kids found themselves shut out of foreign languages, on waiting lists for AP courses, without a lunch period or out of luck when it came to taking something like painting and drawing, creative writing or conversational Italian.

In some cases, such classes either didn’t exist or weren’t available. We were also hard-pressed to find support and help getting used to very large high schools and classes; some schools simply do a better job.

I once dreamed of a fantasy high school with “plenty of guidance counselors on hand to help with the usual array of teenage crisis, plus provide practical tips and advice on college admissions.’’

In addition, “there would be many interesting electives to choose from, and a huge emphasis on learning instead of simply memorizing. There would be less testing, more writing and more discussion—of history, current events, ethics and values.’’

You may not find all of this in a New York City public high school, but that doesn’t mean your kid can’t get an excellent education and have a terrific experience. My older, recent graduate did; my youngest still is. But there was some extra homework involved on my part as a parent.

As the school year begins, Insideschools.org invites you to share tips on supplementing the high school experience—ideas for outside programs, worthwhile college courses, after school experiences and tutoring are all welcome.

If your child already attends a high school that has everything he or she needs, consider yourself amazingly lucky.

I wish we could at least informally do the same for students—and parents.

No matter how you feel about standardized testing, I am convinced that it is both bad form and harmful to talk about test scores.

Unfortunately, the conversation is an occupational hazard in a school system where supply and demand issues turn parenting into a competitive sport—and where test prep is an established routine.

For both public and private school parents alike, test talk starts really early. Your toddler might still be in diapers when taking the ERB exam (an intelligence test on the radar of private school parents that has been particularly controversial for 4- and 5-year-olds).

By now, my public school teenagers have sat through hours of test prep and taken an alphabet soup of exams: ELAs, SSHATs, APs, SATs, ACTs, Regents, the SAT IIs, and an array of middle school and high school entry tests with names, dates and outcomes I cannot remember.

Many of these tests determine where they would, could or will apply.

That does not mean I want to talk about their scores, or hear how well or poorly anyone else did.

"You are not a number!" I exhorted my son and some of his friends recently at a college fair, where they traded their own test scores and repeatedly asked admissions officers what numbers they needed to get in.

Test scores dominated discussion; no one asked about campus life, programs—or what they might actually want to study.

Unfortunately, the college admissions conversation is too often shaped by media reports with dire sentences revealing how just 5 percent of applicants are accepted and a vast majority rejected.

That leads to lots more anxiety, even among students with near or perfect test scores.

Last year, I railed against such stories (even though as a longtime education writer I've reported my share of them), noting that it is time to stop "engaging in this wrong-headed, waste-of-time conversation at all,'' and that we shouldn't compare our kids test scores, GPAs, merits and drawbacks.

In New York City, though, the testing conversation will go on, even if the so-called gag order for teachers doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Just read the opinion piece principal Elizabeth Phillips of PS 321 in Park Slope penned last month.

You can also get a sense of the outrage some educators feel about the way this year's test was designed from Jim Dwyer's terrific column in Wednesday's New York Times.

It may be a small step, but a Queens principal became something of a hero in my eyes when he acknowledged a reality of life in high-pressure New York City high schools: Kids are exhausted and need more sleep.

Townsend Harris Principal Anthony Barbetta came up with a new policy that forbids teachers from assigning homework one day of the week or giving tests on designated odd or even days, a New York Daily News story said.

"Maybe it will give [kids] more time to perform community service or participate in extracurriculars — or even get a little more sleep," Barbetta said of the new policy

Townsend Harris is one of the most highly regarded high schools in New York City, and students say the workload is formidable.

Barbetta deserves credit for recognizing how ridiculously tiring the intense and long days are can be for teenagers who commute, juggle sports, jobs, social lives, a digital world, after school activities, college preparation and – oh yeah – homework. Some cram so many courses into a day they don't even break for lunch.

In my household, multiple alarm clocks, extremely loud music, jumping on beds and even bribes have gone nowhere. Coffee, Morning Thunder tea and energy drinks are depended on at way too young an age.

Late notices pile up. And I've especially come to dread the moment of parent teacher conferences where I know I will learn what a good sleeper one of my children is -- and how it would be so nice if they could stay awake in chemistry, physics, Spanish, or whatever class happens to be at 8 a.m., although they've been known to snooze through later classes as well.

They have plenty of company. A National Public Radio story on the topic noted that at least 20 percent of high school students fall asleep in class on a typical day. I've also admired other school districts that have introduced later start times, out of respect for the natural body rhythms of teenagers.

It turns out that starting school later in New York City – an idea I've explored in the past -- is ridiculously complicated, due to a combination of factors – buses, hugely long subway commutes, contracts, sports, budget cuts and advanced placement courses, among others.

It's one reason why small steps like the one Barbetta introduced are so welcome. And it's why Insideschools.org would like to ask parents, students and educators for some ideas – especially as we will soon have a new schools chancellor.

Studies indicated that a lack of sleep can hinder academic performance, and even U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan this year said he believed later start times would help.

What can be done to give teens a little more shut-eye without sacrificing academics? Are high schools taking a creative approach? Solutions, anyone?

When I look back on the full-time job of finding a New York City public high school for my kids, I’m reminded of looking for my first apartment.

Anyone else remember coming to New York City with big dreams and a tiny paycheck? And being shown moldy, tiny apartments, up endless flights of stairs, in neighborhoods no one wanted to visit?

Remember fantasizing about fireplaces, decks and duplexes? Maybe the dreams weren’t even that big. In those early days, I would have happily settled for views of anything other than brick walls, proximity to a subway, and maybe a small washing machine.

Sorry to say that the real estate comparison is valid when you are searching out high schools in Gotham. Your fantasy apartment is out of reach; the perfect high school does not exist.

That is why settling and compromise is often the theme of the popular New York Times real estate column, “The Hunt.”

Just like quality, affordable housing in New York City, a good high school is hard to find—and supply never meets demand.

The good news is, with some caveats and compromise, and of course, a little luck with the ridiculously complicated ranking system and a lot of pushing hard and fighting back, you may be surprised at just how good school city high schools are.

During two somewhat recent and seemingly endless searches, my kids and I found plenty to like in the many schools we visited in Manhattan and Brooklyn. For good old-fashioned real estate reasons (location, and commute) we never ventured to Staten Island, Queens or the Bronx.

We also never considered or visited the many charter schools that are increasingly part of the public school landscape now, even though they could become less of a priority in the next mayoral administration.

Like the dream apartment, the perfect high school, I found, existed inside my imagination only. Endless supplies of money, of course, can buy astonishing real estate, and money can buy the kinds of small classes and stellar facilities only private schools can offer—although I would prefer to see more New Yorkers of means supporting the public schools and pushing to make them better.

Every school we ranked on our choice list had a least a few drawbacks—not enough arts or sports, limited science labs, advanced courses or foreign language choices. Some seemed overwhelmingly large, others so small we knew they couldn’t maintain robust sports teams or theatre productions. It was also hard to gauge the quality of teaching in those quick tour visits.

Still, just as in real estate, there were plenty of conclusions to be drawn about what was acceptable and what was not. So think about what amenities and attributes matter most to you. During the search, talk to lots of kids and parents (and teachers and administrators whenever possible) to learn more about what happens in and out of the building.

And no matter where your child ends up, be prepared to keep fighting for improvements. You can’t have it all, but the more you speak up and help support the school however you can, the easier it will be for the next generation of New York City public school kids and parents.

]]>willen@tc.columbia.edu (Liz Willen)News and viewsWed, 09 Oct 2013 17:54:33 -0400 High School Hustle: What are we fighting for?http://insideschools.org/blog/item/1000721-hs-hustle-back-to-school-what-are-we-fighting-for?
http://insideschools.org/blog/item/1000721-hs-hustle-back-to-school-what-are-we-fighting-for?

No matter how you feel about the end of summer (I am always sad and counting the days until the next one), this week marks the start of what may be a four-year fight for parents of high school freshmen.

A fight to make sure they get the right classes, the right teachers and even a lunch period. A fight to make sure they get support for what could be a tough adjustment from middle school.

For New York City public school parents, it's likely an ongoing battle -- even at some of the city's best and most sought-after high schools.

Get ready. Start asking questions the minute you see your child's schedule. The stakes are simply too high to sit back. Don't take no for an answer. Camp outside of the guidance counselor's office and be the squeaky wheel. Get on waiting lists and keep calling and writing until the mess is straightened out.

A few weeks ago, when I dropped my oldest child off to college for the first time, I contemplated whether it was time for high school parents to back off. I wondered if it was time to let our children start fighting their own battles.

I have since decided it is not. They need you now more than ever.

Perhaps there are some children who manage to get all the classes they need; the Advanced Placement courses, the right foreign language, the sequential science course, everything they need for college and beyond.

Don't hold your breath. That has not been my experience. My kids have been shut out of physics, foreign language classes, AP classes they wanted and yes, even a lunch period. In some cases, the problem was fixed.

I am bracing for the call today from my junior, and putting the number of the guidance counselor (who I have never met) on speed dial.

Once they get to college, sure, leave them alone. Most likely, they do not want your interference. I can't possibly imagine trying to track down a professor with a parental demand; the idea of it seems appalling.

Based on a recent conversation with my college freshman son, I am sure my help is unwelcome.

Me: "How are classes?

He: "Good."

Message taken. Even if there are problems, I can't fight his battles anymore.

On the other hand, if I had not fought for so many years to make sure he got into the right classes, he might not even be in college.

There are no easy answers here, and none of the mayoral candidates can possibly address the critical shortage of guidance counselors, the lack of sufficient quality high schools that prepare students for college, and the inability of even some of the best high schools in the city to have enough room in AP courses, college math and science, and foreign languages.

So parents, take notice. Ask about the schedule. If something important is left out, find out why. If you hear there is no more room in a class, get on a waiting list. Keep calling. Don't give up.

The first week of middle school a few years back, I learned that two cherished rituals were soon to be stripped from our lives: bringing cupcakes to our children's class for birthdays and traveling to school together with them.

"Your kids are going to be taking the subway alone to school soon, deal with it,'' the principal told an auditorium full of parents on day one, as some cowered in fear and uncertainty.

Soon enough, parents got used to the subway ritual, after following close behind for a few days – just never close enough to be seen. The principal just laughed at the parent (me) who asked about bringing cupcakes, and it never came up again.

By the time your child starts high school, you are deep into what I call "The Age of Embarrassment" and long past cupcakes and drop-off worries. Still, you may be filled with uncertainty about what your role should be during these four critical years.

One thing you can likely count on: you'll immediately be hit by the school's Parent Association for money, and learn about the long list of items the school is in need of but can't afford. You may be asked to go on field trips from time to time, but your child won't necessarily appreciate your presence.

In fact, you may have to count on being asked by your high schooler to stay away entirely, something that doesn't feel natural, especially if you have survived the exhausting high school admissions process and are concerned about what the next four years will bring.

For parents, managing to both back off and stay vigilant and involved is among the biggest challenges of the high school years. It all begins the first day when you see your kid's schedule, which may include the wrong foreign language or none at all. You might discover placement into a too-advanced or too easy math or science class. Perhaps they won't have gym or a lunch period.

I spent the first week of my older son's freshman year on the phone with guidance counselors, assistant principals, department heads -- anyone who could help me untangle his screwed-up schedule and get him into the right classes.

I spent the next three years afterwards writing emails, making calls, showing up and pushing back against a bureaucracy that would eventually yield – quite possibly if only to make me go away.

This can be an exhausting ritual for parents, and it would be nice to think our children could fight their own battles. But that's probably a bit optimistic.

So as the school year approaches, Insideschools.org would love suggestions from veteran high school parents and educators. What's the best approach to helping your child through everything from the adjustment to getting the classes he or she needs? How can parents stay involved, without being in their kid's faces? Do parents teach teens to fight their own battles, or do we need to fight hard for them in high school?

Over the years, there have been plenty of articles about the price of tagging turtles or monitoring zebras – and how little it will help with college admission. I remember reading about one such trip to Fiji a few years back where a student spent more than $3,295 to work – and enjoyed the infinity pool and view of the ocean.

None of this was what I had in mind when we first started contemplating New York City public high schools a few years back. At the time, I was particularly impressed by schools like Beacon, where community service is part of the program. In some parts of the U.S., a minimum of 20 hours of service is required for graduation, so the volunteer work is all part of the curriculum. Some city high schools require it, others simply suggest it.

We thought it was the right thing to do. But where to start?

Children who grow up with a religious affiliation through a church or synagogue may have a built- in advantage when it comes to community service. Some learn the benefits of preparing meals for the elderly and the homeless, sleeping overnight in shelters or packaging clothing and care packages off to needy families.

It’s tough to fit any meaningful volunteer experience into a school day that can exceed 12 hours with sports, practices, performances and other activities, not to mention exams, homework and more of the same on weekends.

The only answer was to look at summer programs. I wrote to a few and the colorful brochures started piling up.

In the end, my kids found their own program – an urban farm founded by New York City public schools students – and run by a former Beacon teacher in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

My older son did a two-week program there last summer with many of his friends, some of whom helped organize the trip. He helped fundraise for it, and came back excited by the work itself and what he had learned.

My youngest is in the program now and we’ll meet him in New Orleans and drive back to New York City. On the way home, instead of crystal-clear waters and white sand beaches, we’ll see some Civil War sites, stop at Roadfoodjoints and spend a day at an old-fashioned countryfair in Mississippi.

All this comes with a price tag– flight to New Orleans, food, rental car and hotels – but that falls in the category of vacation, and not community service.

Insideschools.org would love to hear from parents and students about volunteer experiences. What worked, and what was learned? Are some of the programs in Costa Rica and abroad worth the expense?

Should more high schools require community service as part of the curriculum?

Finals will begin in many New York City high schools next week, and I already have a vision of what "studying,'' will look like in my household.

Banish forever any image of notebooks, highlighters, textbooks, index cards and teenagers hunched over a desk.

Instead, picture headphones or ear buds and dozens of open windows – the digital kind – with sites ranging from Facebook to i-Chat, spark notes, Twitter, Hulu or even Netflix. One hand will undoubtedly hold a cell phone with multiple text messages coming in and out.

As a parent, you may be tempted to shout: "Turn it off! You have finals! Study!"

It's most likely a losing battle; in their minds, they are studying – and to some extent, they are. How much is being retained is subject to debate.

"Attending to multiple streams of information and entertainment while studying, doing homework, or even sitting in class has become common behavior among young people—so common that many of them rarely write a paper or complete a problem set any other way,'' author Annie Murphy Paul wrote in a recent story for The Hechinger Report, where I'm the editor.

Paul's fascinating piece took a close look at ways young people multitask while learning, and notes the fallout: They remember less and learn less, according to new research. Some additional research shows that multitasking while studying and in class can lead to lower grades

By 2010, before dozens of new sites and digital distractions had emerged, almost a third of 8-to 18-year-olds reported they were also watching TV, texting listening to music or using some other medium when doing homework, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found.

So how can they possibly be concentrating on topics like chemistry, physics and U.S. history? I posed the question to my 15-year-old recently, but he didn't answer. Of course, he had a headset on and a computer open with multiple windows. This isn't the first time I've been concerned; I've watched the digital distractions multiply since my kids first got Facebook pages in junior high. They laugh when I tell them I grew up without cellphones and that my parents installed a second telephone line named for our family dog so my brother and sister and I could share our own land line.

I'm not so sure it wasn't easier to focus. I remember locking myself in my room before the biology Regents for hours with review books and index cards. For hours, it was nothing but photosynthesis, photographs of frog parts, mutations and the life of a cell. So simple.

As finals approach, Insideschools.org would love to hear more from parents, teens, teachers and others about how high schoolers are managing to study for finals with so many digital distractions. Do all these tools help, or hurt? Does all the digital access to friends, classmates and the Internet make it easier to study more efficiently? Does anyone turn off technology and simply read, use highlighters and review class notebooks anymore?

Finals will begin in many New York City high schools next week, and I already have a vision of what “studying,’’ will look like in my household.

Banish forever any image of notebooks, highlighters, textbooks, index cards and teenagers hunched over a desk.

Instead, picture headphones or ear buds and dozens of open windows – the digital kind – with sites ranging from Facebook to i-Chat, spark notes, Twitter,Hulu or even Netflix.One hand will undoubtedly hold a cell phone with multiple text messages coming in and out.

As a parent, you may be tempted to shout: “Turn it off! You have finals! Study!”

It’s most likely a losing battle; in their minds, they are studying – and to some extent, they are.How much is being retained is subject to debate.

“Attending to multiple streams of information and entertainment while studying, doing homework, or even sitting in class has become common behavior among young people—so common that many of them rarely write a paper or complete a problem set any other way,’’ author Annie Murphy Paul wrote in a recent story for The Hechinger Report, where I’m the editor.

Paul’s fascinating piece took a close look at ways young people multitask while learning, and notes the fallout:They remember less and learn less, according to new research.Some additional research shows that multitasking while studying and in class can lead to lower grades

By 2010, before dozens of new sites and digital distractions had emerged, almost a third of 8-to 18-year-olds reported they were also watching TV, texting listening to music or using some other medium when doing homework,a Kaiser Family Foundation study found.

So how can they possibly be concentrating on topics like chemistry, physics and U.S. history?I posed the question to my 15-year-old recently, but he didn’t answer. Of course, he had a headset on and a computer open with multiple windows. This isn’t the first time I’ve been concerned; I’ve watched the digital distractions multiply since my kids first got Facebook pages in junior high. They laugh when I tell them I grew up without cellphones and that my parents installed a second telephone line named for our family dog so my brother and sister and I could share our own land line.

I’m not so sure it wasn’t easier to focus. I remember locking myself in my room before the biology Regents for hours with review books and index cards. For hours, it was nothing but photosynthesis, photographs of frog parts, mutations and the life of a cell.So simple.

As finals approach, Insideschools.org would love to hear more from parents, teens, teachers and others about how high schoolers are managing to study for finals with so many digital distractions. Do all these tools help, or hurt? Does all the digital access to friends, classmates and the Internet make it easier to study more efficiently? Does anyone turn off technology and simply read, use highlighters and review class notebooks anymore?